Understanding barcode labeling can be as tricky as addressing the technicalities of the same. When it comes to ascertaining the complex business requirements, configurable logic and scalable labeling systems play pivotal roles. Moreover, companies usually need to handle a host of labeling requirements— in order to fulfill regulatory, regional and even customer oriented needs.

It needs to be understood that a typical barcode label fits in massive amounts of critical data sets with the complexities evolving on a daily basis. Before we move further into this post and discuss about the variability involved in the process of barcode labeling, it is only appropriate to enlist the underlining challenges associated with the process.

Critical Challenges

Based on a global survey it can be inferred that most enterprises face certain kinds of labeling challenges which in turn hinder their progress.

Failing to Meet Customer Requirements

Almost 84 percent of surveyed professionals find it hard to meet customer requirements when it comes to barcode labeling. Associated discrepancies often lead to penalties and fines— further compromising the entrepreneurial sustainability.

Downtime Disruptions

Select companies experience downtime issues courtesy a host of labeling disruptions. These hindrances have a significant impact on the manufacturing process which then gets delayed— thereby attracting criticisms.

Failing to Comply with Industrial Print Speeds

At least 45 percent of globally active enterprises find it hard to meet print speed requirements. Lack of communication between the native languages and existing printers often lead to the same.

Manual Techniques

There are many organizations— 55 percent of the surveyed lot— persisting with the manual labeling process. Inability to incorporate manufacturing automation is something that makes it exceedingly hard for the companies to address variability— the main focus of our discussion.

Be it downgraded print speeds, downtime disruptions or failing to meet customer requirements— labeling automation is something that can easily solve these major industrial challenges besides addressing the issue of variability. Lastly, mislabeling errors can lead to heavy loses i.e. approximately $100 on an hourly basis.

The Concept of Variability

Barcode labeling usually shows up with streamlined and scalable requirements. However, companies failing to meet these necessities are often pushed into the oblivion. This is where extensive variability comes into the play as there is nothing called a standard label that fits in— almost everywhere.

That said, enterprise labeling embraces variability by ensuring content upgrades and a host of formatting tweaks. The idea here is to offer something that changes dynamically— based on user requirements. For example, there are many companies working with a discrete product but each one looks to add different labels to the concerned entity. This could mean different set of information, data sets and even images— urging labeling firms to include variability into the scheme of things.

Moreover, addressing variability isn’t a straightforward concept as it requires a host of metrics to be analyzed and taken into account. For certain demographics, labeling variability needs to indicate the country language and whether the product is being shipped— internationally. Apart from that, compliance logo or details have to be mentioned— in some cases. Lastly, there are times when the product itself can easily determine the labeling variability— based on the composition and usage.

Variability is mostly built around industrial automation with companies applying labels and modifications to the existing products. This, in turn, saves a lot of time and effort.

Impacts of Variability

Variability, when it comes to labeling, can have diverse effects on a business. In some cases, it can readily increase the existing costs while there are instances when this approach towards barcode labeling slows down the process and comes out with best products in the business.

That said, variability often lends added security to the manufacturers as the labels are then created discreetly and cater to specific customer requirements. This calls for the inclusion of Enterprise labeling solutions which then helps companies automate the barcode labeling process by making the best use of business logic.

If companies are looking to address labeling variability, it is important to take a note of configurable business logic— allowing them to reprogram, customize and strategize ideas— depending on user preferences. This approach towards labeling minimizes the number of entities with pre-structured templates added into the scheme of things. This makes it easier for companies to automate stuffs and add certain levels of variation to each and every label.